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Scientific Rabbit 
Breeding 




Published by the 

Scientific Breeding Department 

Texas Military Colleite 
Terrell, Texas 



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SCIENTIFIC RABBIT 1 

■ 

BREEDING | 

1 



! 1 

1 1 

1 1 

j By Col. l^ouis C. Perry, B. S., M. A., Ph. D. j 

I President Texas Military College and 

I Director of Scientific Breeding Dept. 



Copyrighted 1911) hy (he 

Texas Military College 

Terrell, Texas 

All Rights Reserved 



Reev«!8 Hros., Pre«8, Terrell 
w ■■ M B n iw ■■ I ■ n » I ■■ — ■! 1 n 1 tn m ■■ ■ ■ ■ HI »! 



2 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

CHAPTER I. 5 p^ 63 

INTRODUCTION. ' ^ 

The prime object in writing- and publishing this little book 
is patriotic — that through it the Texas Military College may help 
many men, women and boys too find a really effective means 
of service. First, direct service to their country and the present 
and future world civilization, by increasing the supply of avail- 
able meat for food and fur for clothing-. Second, indirect serv- 
ice — that is, by adding to the world's wealth through enriching- 
themselves. 

The one who studies this treatise carefully will see how the 
supply of the best food and clothing may be increased more rap- 
idly through Commercial Rabbit farming than practically any 
other way; and at the same time find that there is possibly no 
other business enterprise in America today where one maj'- enter 
so easily and not only make a living, but actually accumulate 
wealth. 

And let it be said here that the accumulation of wealth is a 
genuine service to the world — that the man who, by industry and 
good judgment, amasses a fortune in some creative enterprise is 
aa truly a valuable citizen as the soldier who fights for his coun- 
tiy's liberty. Too much condemnation cannot be heaped upon 
the head of the man who, by questionable business raethods, 
graft, or any other parasitic practice, gets wealth for himself pt 
the expense of his community. Many fortunes have been made 
this way but the time has come in the progress of civilization 
when the man who makes his money by crooked methods must 
not be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his chicanery. Yet we must 
bear in mind that the world is in the habit of paying for service • 
rendered, and if a man goes through life without accumulatin,:^ 
any property, the presumption is that he has not been worth 
much to his age, or else he would have been paid for his service. 
Cei-tainly, there are notable exceptions to this rule in the men 
who deliberately choose a profession that merely affords a living, 
svch as the ministry; or who, by unfortunate family experiences 
find it impossible to get a start; or who by unfavorable circum- 
stances fail in business. Yet, set this down for yourself now and 
plan with it ever before you — that if you live and die poor the 
presumption will be that your lacging in one or more of 
the following essentials of success: First, Industry — are you too 
lazy to work? Second, Business .Judgment — can you tell a good 
proposition from a V)ad one? Third, Thrift — can you save for in- 

©CI.A5I1863 



m -4 1319 



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^ 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 3 

vestment, or niust you spend all you make for present ixidulgen- 
4;ies ? 

It is, therefore, the hope of the author that those who read 
this book may have opened to them a business enterprise that 
raay either be used as a side line whereby their earnings may be 
doubled, or by devoting- all their time to rabbit farming they may 
become independent and substantial business men, and that they 
may be looked upon in their home communities as real financial 
powers. 

Rabbit farming is a dignified business. It is not a pet stock 
enterprise, nor child's play, though remarkably young boys may 
make big success at it. There was, a few years ago, in this 
country an artificial boom in the Belgian hare industry, and we 
heard of vast fortunes being made; the author heard of one man 
who was said to have made $132,000 in three years. The boom 
stage has passed, and Commercial Rabbit farming has settled into 
:i steady business as dignified as cattle raising, cotton farming, 
or banking. So pay no attention to some firms who may hold out 
the allurements of $2.5,000 or $50,000 a year profit if you buy 
stock from them, but enter the business with a settled conviction 
that you can make good money out of it — that $5,000 a year is 
no beyond your reach. 

In many countries the Rabbit Industry has long been a recog- 
nized business. In France before the war 80,000,000 rabbits were 
scld through the public markets, which is probably not half the 
number raised and used. Australia exports annually over thirty- 
six million head. While in America the industry is in its infancy 
and of course the greatest fortunes will come to those who start 
in the business before it Is crowded. 

The United States Department of Agriculture is just now be- 
ginning to encourage the industry. We quote from Agricultural 
Bulletin Number 496: "Rabbits, which have formed a valuable 
source of food in Europe, may well be raised more extensively in 
America. The business of growing rabbits may be carried on by 
youths and aduts not engaged in military service. The animals 
may lie raised in back yards of cities and towns, as well as on the 
farms. The Belgian Hare breeds rapidly, matures quickly, and 
produces a palatable and highly nutritious meat. The cost of 
production is less than that of any other meat, not excepting 
poultry. Practical experience has demonstrated that rabbii meat 
can be produced in unlimited quantities at a cost of about six 
cfnts a pound: and by utilizing lawn cuttings and other vegeta- 
tion that would otherwise be wasted, the cost can be made even 
lower." 

The comparative profitableness of the Rabbit may be illus- 



4 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

trated by a trade the author made a few weeks before this writ- 
ing. A man came up to the College breeding hutches with a 
yearing steer to exchange for . Rabbits, and was well satisfied 
when he got one ordinary, unregistered, four-months old doe for 
his steer. Remember that it took a cow a whole year to raise 
that one steer and that he had already eaten many times his 
weight in high-priced feed; while the doe, when taken out of her 
hutch, left five brothers and sisters just as valuable, all of which 
had been raised on a few handfuls of oats and hay, and that their 
mother was close by in another hutch with a new litter of seven 
little fellows two weeks old, each one of which will in a wonder- 
fully short time be worth another steer. 

There is real money, and a goodly amount of it, in Rabbit 
farming. But let everyone who would enter the business be sure 
to give it the proper thought. Read and study carefully the fol- 
lowing pages; then get good stock. Cheap breeding stock will 
prove very expensive, even if j'ou accept it as a gift. Put youi" 
Rabbit farm on a scientific basis. Do not use haphazard meth- 
ods, but study carefully every detail and you may soon be inde- 
pendent, and be recognized in your community as a valuable 
wealth producer. 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 5 

CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF THE COMMERCIAL RABBIT. 

The Commercial Rabbit is fast becoming an important source 
0-' meat supply lor civilized man, as the wild hare and rabbit 
have always been for man in the earlier stages of civilization. 
No attempt will be made here to give a learned scientific discus- 
sion of the rabbit, but a practical guide, with sufficient scientifij 
data to lay the foundation properly for real scientific results In 
the breeding of rabbits. 

No complete history of the Commercial Rabbit can be writ- 
ion, for the early breeders were not educated men, nor did they 
lealize the future value to the world of the work they were doing. 
Xo history is ever recorded unless the men who make it or see it 
made are educated men, and men who realize at the time that 
the work thy are doing will bear valuable fruit lOr future genera- 
tions. Neither of these conditions were met in the early stages 
of the rabbit industry, as the breeding was begun and carried on 
for centuries by che peasants of Western Europe. 

Man has always domesticated the meat animal when lis nier t 
KL^pply, the wild animal, began to be scarce. As population be- 
came denser wild animals became fewer and meat harder to se- 
cure. Primitive man killed his wild meat, ate what he wantec', 
and left the other to rot. When this became harder to get ha 
thought more of saving for future use what he did not want im- 
mediately; so, steps were taken to preserve it. Thus the art oi' 
drying and curing meat was developed. When, in the chase, 
certain animals were captured alive, they were saved alive fo^' 
future use by tying or fencing, while the ones killed in the cap- 
ture were used for immediate needs. Some of those kept in 
captavity would bring young and man got the idea of raising his 
own meat so as to have it handy. 

The first animals thus domesticated were naturally the larger 
ones, as cattle, for they were the first to become scarce and, fui • 
wishing a larger amount of meat per individual, were firsi: 
; bought of in this connection. But as the habit of domestication 
Itecame fixed, and the smaller animals became scarcer by man'., 
rloser occupation of the territory, he naturally turned to these 
smaller animals and added them to his herd. 

In Western Europe the larger wild animals became too scarce 
-, housands of ye?rs ago to supply the populace with meat, brt 
the small wild hares and rabbits were still abundant. They, cf 
rourse. pr.'^.dually b-^came scarcor and three or four hundre'1 



6 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

years ago the peasant, who had always depended considerablj' 
upqn this for meat during the Fall and Winter, began to domes- 
ticate them, just as, thousands of year-s before, the early civilized 
man had domesticated the cow, sheep, and dog. 

This domestication was not confined to any particular coun- 
try, but was carried on simultaneously by the peasants of all the 
countries of central and western Europe. It was the wild rabbit, 
rather than the hare, that was found the most susceptible to this 
process of domestication. While the Belgian Hare was the first 
of the species of Commercial Rabbit to be thus raised for meat, 
it must be remebered that the Belgian Hare is not a hare at all, 
but a rabbit. The name "Belgian Hare" has been given it in the 
English speaking world from the fact that it was first imported 
to England from Belgium, and the standards of the present Bel- 
gian Hare were developed in England for a century or more pre«» 
vious to 1889, when its characteristics were officially standard- 
ized. Soon after this it was imported to America and the 
English Colonies. 

Now the work of these English Fanciers, for they were Fan- 
ciers — not commercial breeders — was in some ways very valuable. 
A fancier, by the way, is one who breeds for showy marks, while 
a commercial breeder is one who breeds for intrinsic valuo of fur 
and meat. In two respects the fanciers have benefited the indus- 
try — in one way they have injured it. They bred for a smaller 
bone. It is meat we want, not bone. Then they improved the 
color and texture of the fur. And be it remembered that beauty 
is the primary element in the demand for clothing. 

The fancier, however, has also sought for slender, racy ap- 
pearance in the Belgian Hare, and made him smaller than neces- 
sary, thus affording less meat. A Belgian Hare weighing over R 
pounds would, even today, be thrown out of the show ring 

The English fanciers, during the century of developnicnt, did 
not produce their own meat, but bought their rabbit meat from 
the continent, while they developed their strain of Belgians for 
beauy as pets. During this time they added to the richness of 
color. So, in the standard today we find the English mark of 
Rufus Red, and the breed is known as the Rufus Red Belgian 
Hare Rabbit. These fanciers, it might be added, were weaitny 
hobbyists, not peasant commercial meat producers. 

It was natural that the raising of rabbits in America should 
come later than in Europe, for we were in a more primitive en- 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 7 

vironment. Up to a few years ago the wild rabbit was abundant, 
but as our population became denser the same primary reasons 
that caused the rabbit to be domesticated in Europe woi ked in 
America to encourage its breeding. And the extreme high price of 
meat in the last few years has laid the foundation of a great com- 
mercial rabbit industry. 

In America there have been a few real fanciers engaged in 
raising commercial rabbits, but the majority of those who ari 
only fanciers have turned their attention to rabbits other than 
those of recognized commercial value. There are many of these 
fancy rabbits, such as the English Lop-ear, the Dutch, the Ha- 
vana, the Polish, etc. However, it was to be expected from the 
practical nature of Americans that the industry in our country 
would devolep along the lines of real efficiency in supplying the 
demand. And this is what has been done. 

There are three standard breeds of Commercial Rabbits: the 
Belgian Hare, imported from England, and possibly improved on 
in America; the New Zealand Red Rabbit, said to have been 
brought from New Zealand first by a sailor, but really, we do not 
know when it came or how it w^as started. It is distinctly an 
American product, at least in its commercial value. It is larger 
than the Belgian, thus supplying more meat with less cost for 
feed. The Flemish Giant, possibly a cross between the old gray 
Belgian and the Russian white rabbit, is a still heavier rabbit and 
is bred for the largest possible size. It is either gray, black, white 
or mixed, and does not yet breed true to color, because of its 
hybrid oirgin. There is a strong tendency now, however, to es- 
tablish a steel grey standard, and we fear that weight may be 
sacrificed to color in future standards of this breed. 

This is a mere sketch of the history of Commercial Rabbit 
breeding. It is evidently in its infancy in Amerca and holds great 
commercial possibilities. Anyone wishing to get into a move- 
ment that is on the rise, and one that bids fair to a tremendous 
future in supplying the world with its meat and fur, will make 
no mistake in studying and raising the Commercial Rabbit. New 
Itreeds may be developed, and some breeds that are now mere 
fancy pet stock may be developed into valuable commercial stock. 
The field is broad and promising; let us have more breeders of 
this new meat and fur-bearing commercial animal. 



8 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

CHAPTER III. 

LAWS OF INHERITANCE. 

In order to get results in any field of activity it is necessary 
to understand the fundamental laws of nature as they operate in 
connection with that particular field. In breeding rabbits we 
have to do with life, and life is no simple matter. We cannot 
produce life, and yet, life is produced under our hand by com- 
bining certain life forces. The success we have with this pro- 
duction — the degree of improvement we make in the j-tock we 
are breeding, will depend on the wisdom with which we combine 
the life element. Therefore this is not merely a question of pass- 
ing interest but of vital importance to the success of our under- 
taking. 

The more one knows about the scientific laws of life and the 
channels through which life is transmitted, the greater success he 
can make in the development of any form of life. It is really 
worth while for one to make a close scientific study of the law.-^ 
of inheritance, the method by which types are transmitted, and 
what are the scientific results of certain combinations — in fact, 
of all questions along this line. However, the scope of this guide 
will not permit a very lengthy discussion of these subjects 

It is, however, absolutely necessary for any kind of success to 
understand a few of the more fundamental scientific laws of in- 
heritance, and therefore we will give them in as clear and brief 
a v/ay as possible. If you would become a great producer, study 
further along this line and you will find it profitable as well as 
exceedingly fascinating. And let us add just here that a lack of 
scientific knowledge along these lines is the greatest handicap to 
commercial rabbit breeding, as but few people in the industry 
have any real scientific knowledge of the fundamental laws ot 
inheritance. Some very fine results have been attained in spite 
of the lack of real knowledge, but it has been a case of "main 
force and awkwardness." 

Some very fine mineral deposits were found by the pioneer 
prospector with pick and shovel, and practical experience. But th.> 
real work of revealing the mineral %vealth of the earth v/as not 
accomplished till the sciences of Geology and Mineralogy were 
brought to the aid of the prospector. Neither will the highest 
possibilities of commercial rabbit farming be realized till a thor- 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 9 

ough knowledge of the scientific laws of inheritance are coupled 
with the practical experience of breeding. To accomplish thig 
the Texas Military College established its department of scientific 
rabbit breeding. It is hoped we can in part do for the rabbit in- 
dustry what the State Agricultural colleges have done for other 
kinds of live stock. 

LIKE BEGETS LIKE. Of course, we all understand that to 
produce a result we must have a cause, and that like causes pro- 
duce like results. Nothing will appear in the offspring that was 
not in the parent, either actively manifest in the life of the par- 
ent or dormant in the blood. Traits of character or physical at- 
tributes may sleep for generations and then crop out. But noth- 
ing crops out but what was in the blood of the parents. 

It is extremely important, if you would improve your stock 
at any point, to know your different breeders so as to be able tj 
select the best ones for the results you want. For instance, 
if you want to improve color: you may have two specimens of 
nearly equal color; one may even show a little better color, yet 
his parents may be decidedly poorer in color than the parents of 
the other specimen. For best results you will select the one with 
good color whose parents were good in color. 

Nothing may be expected in the offspring that is not in the 
blood, and any trait in the blood may be expected in the offspring, 

TRAITS TRANSMITTED AS UNITS. Another fundamental 
law, a knowledge of which is necessary to real success, and one 
of which most practical breeders are ignorant, is that traits of 
character and types of life are trarjsmitted as a unit, not as a 
blend. The life of any individual animal is an organized unit, 
but it is composed of hundreds, yea, literally thousands of traits, 
and each trait is a unit to be figured with alone. For in.^-tance, 
the circulatory system, consisting of the heart, arteries, veins, and 
blood, may have hundreds of different strong points or weak 
points. The heart action may be good or bad, the blood may be 
rich in certain elements and poor in others. And so on ad in- 
finitum. 

Now this law is that each definite trait unit is transmitted to 
offspring as a whole. In creating a new life, the life geim from 
two distinct lives are brought together. The life substance from 
each of these two individuals contains all the peculiar traits and 
lypes of the life from which it is thrown. Nature's miracle of 



1 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

reproduction follows from the combination under the proper cir- 
cumstances of substance representing these two lives. The life 
resulting from the combination, the young, has certain traits and 
types. These he has gotten from his parents. But each parent 
has just as many types as the young can possibly have; so he can- 
not take all from both parents. 

The problem is the same as if 200 marbles were thrown into 
a box from two distinct piles, and then 100 of them taken out to 
form a new pile. The problem would be simple if we could use 
as an illustration two liquids which would mix readily, such af3 
wine and water. A pint of wine mixed thoroughy would give a 
uniform result any time you dipped a small portion frorr it; but 
should you mix 10,000 marbles from a hundred different kind.-; 
and stir them, then take out two handfuls you would certainly 
not expect each handful to represent the same proportion from 
the original source. 

In this respect animal life is like the marbles — not like the 
liquid — and each parent brings to the combination many combi- 
nations from ancestors that have never expressed themselves in 
his own life; they have been dormant in his development, but 
may be transmitted and become effective in the developing life 
of his offspring. And the fact of first importance is that these 
traits are transmited as units, not blended. 

In making the fact clear, let me appeal to your observatioi;. 
You have doubtless noticed a large family of children, one of 
whose parents had black hair, and the other red. Sonne of th»' 
children's hair was as black as their father's, while other? inher- 
ited the red of their mother's. None of them had the perfect 
blend. So, for instance, if you want to produce a rabbit with 
ears exactly 4% inches long you would not select one v/ith ear.? 
5 inches long and another with ears 4 inches long and expect to 
to get 4 1/2 -inch ears. Some of the young ones would develop 
ears 5 inches long, and others 4, while, of course, there always 
would be some variation as there always is in nature, but noc 
an exact blend. 

There are certain results that apparently contradict this un- 
less subjected to thorough scientific analysis: the scope of this 
guide will not permit their discussion. The breeder should rec- 
ognize the established law of inheritance as above stated, and 
seek for results by coml)ining known traits either in the indl- 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 1 1 

vidual or his sires, and not count on getting the logical effect of a 
blend. 

ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS NOT INHERITED. — Here 
is one other law of inheritance that has practical results for th*^ 
rabbit breeder, as well as breeders of other live stock; only those 
characteristics that are natural, rather than those that are ac- 
quired, can be transmitted to the offspring. 

Tha old question of how many generation would it take to 
breed a tailless rat by cutting off the tails of all new-born ratd 
could only be asked in an age of ignorance of this great law. 
You can easily breed a tailless rat; however, not by cutting off 
the tails of the breeders, but by selecting the rats with the short- 
est tails to breed from and repeating the process till the result i? 
obtained. Were this not true, the man who had accidentally lost 
an arm would have one-armed children. You can breed o any 
type you wish, for life is infinite in its possibilities; but you must 
go at it in the right way. And that way is to take for breeders 
those which show naturally the greatest tendency towards the 
type you want, not by trying to train the individual to what you 
want and then expect it to transmit its training. 

A very perfect illustration of the right and wrong method in 
this respect in the effort made for centuries by the French an^l 
Chinese to change the size and shape of their ladies' feet. For 
some unaccountable reason the Frenchman and the Chinaman 
both got the idea centuries ago that a woman with a small foot 
and high instep was very beautiful. The Chinaman tried training 
the foot, and for centuries the baby girl had her foot bound 
and forced to conform to this standard of beauty, but each gen- 
eration the work had to be done all over, as there never was any 
perceptible lessening in the natural size of the foot. The French- 
man, however, just followed the Cinderella fable and pu^ked a't5 
his wife the smallest footed woman. If there were any old 
maids in France they were the ones with the biggest toot an I 
lowest instep. All with the result that the French woman is 
known the world over for her small foot and high instep. 

Should you wish healthy stock, do not select as breeders those 
who were naturally weak and had to be doctored to keep healthy. 
They may be healthy now, but more than likely the children will 
have to be doctored more than their parents, for it is natural 
that a weakness should increase, rather than diminish. 



1 2 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

If you want a strain with smooth, glossy fur, do not pick your 
future breeders when they are little and groom them each day; 
they may have smooth, shiny fur when grown, but will not start a 
strain with improved fur. Just be careful to pick only those as 
breeders which, without any artificial coaxing, have fur nearest 
approaching the type desired. Repeat that for a few genera- 
tions, and you will see a marked improvement. 

I have seen in a rabbit breeder's guide elaborate directions 
for fixing up with wax and tape a young rabbit's ear that does 
not set right, and making it grow in the desired shape. That is 
all right for the show room for that particular specimen, but if 
bred, the young from it will show the same tendency to irregu- 
larity in the ear as though its parent's ear had never been forced 
to grow into the correct form. 

There is a lesson in this in handling disease. Disease is not 
inherited. The constitutional weakness that may have caused 
the parent to acquire a certain disease is most certainly trans- 
mitted. And if the disease has weakened the vitality of the 
parent, the offspring will be diseased from birth. 

VARIATION THE LAW OF NATURE. — One may ask if we 
can not modify an individual and have the effect transmitted, 
how are we ever to start anything new? Nature has answered 
that question by having never made any two specimens of any- 
thing exactly alike. It is only man-made machinery that pro- 
duces duplicates. 

A nlere suggestion as to the cause of this may be fathered 
by a closer study of the above section on unit transmissioi:. 
Whatever be the cause, the fact is universal. All Nature'.s 
myriad variety of plant and animal life may not have teen de- 
veloped from one original life germ by natural and sexual selec- 
tion. The God of Nature may have done it some other way, but 
the more one studies the law of variation in all life forms, and 
the infinite possibilities that lie in that variation when com- 
bined in the increasing geometric ratio that is necessary in sexual 
reproduction, the more fully one realizes that universal evolutioj\ 
is by no means out of the realm of probability, to say nothing of 
possibility. The Almighty Creator of the universe certainly couli 
have used that method if he had chosen. 

Just look what man may do! For instance, he may take just 
two average dogs and from that one pair he may breed a dog 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 1 3 



either large enough to ride upon or small enough to carry in his 
vest pocket if he will persistently, generation after generation, 
select the larg;est or the smallest for future breeders. 

By realizing- the opportunities made possible by variation, th-o 
commercial rabbit farmer may recognize to what extent th«-j 
breed can be improved. If scientifically handled, this industry 
may, in the future, solve the world's meat problem. Space, which 
in man's earlier experience was an absolute handicap, has already 
become his most valuable possession. Already the commercial 
rabbit has shown his ability to produce meat and fur in less space 
than any other known animal. And the industry is yet in its in- 
fancy. Let breeders realize the possibilities before them, and 
plan scientifically for the largest results. 



14 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDLNG 

CHAPTER IV. 

WHO SHOULD RAISE RABBITS AND HOW TO START. 

The question of who should raise rabbits can be answereci 
very simply — 'all those who want to make money and who have a 
few feet of ground space at their disposal. For be it remem- 
bered that rabbit farming- is a business, the main purpose of 
which is to make money, and in scarcely any other business can 
one make a living more easily. Some space is necessary, of 
course, but this need not be a great amount, nor particuiarly lo- 
cated, as is explained in the chapter on Housing. 

One essential to success in the rabbit business, as in any un- 
dertaking, is that the one who succeeds must love the work. So 
one who does not love to work with live animals must cultivate 
a love for them before he can really succeed. This, hov.'ever, is 
not a difficult task. All healthy, well-kept stock, in clean sur- 
roundings, is attractive. What can be more pleasant to work 
with than a beautiful thoroughbred rabbit! It is a pleasure to 
watch them grow, and the more you work with, them, developin;; 
a strain of stock that will not only make you money, but will im- 
prove the general breed of rabbits, the more you will love the 
work. 

It is presumed that most of those who begin raising rabbit.s 
will be people of limited means, and consequently will do their 
own work} attending to their rabbits in person. However, som>? 
men and women of wealth, because of their desire to increase the 
world's supply of food and fur, and to become real producers, 
will invest in rabbit farms. Such men will, naturally, have other 
pressing duties and cannot attend personally to the needs of their 
stock, but must delegate this work to some one else. 

Just in this connection, let us state a general essential of 
success in any undertaking, especially true in rabbit raising. One 
of the world's greatest financiers was once asked how it was that 
he could invest in so many different enterprises and make a suc- 
cess of all of them. His reply was to give two rules that he al- 
ways followed. First — he never invested in any enterprise unless 
he was in position to shape its policy if he wanted to do su. 
Second — he never put money into a business until he had first 
gotten the consent of his mind to take the active management 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 1 5 

of it if it showed signs of failure. By these two rules he always 
succeeded. 

Now, to the man or woman of means! You naay safely invest 
in rabbit farming and be a producer worth while, and get some 
one to do the work for you. But the time is likely to come when 
your personal attention at feeding or breeding time wih be re- 
quired to make a success of the enterprise. So get the consent of 
your mind before you go into the business that if all does not go 
well you will take hold of the active management and make :t 
go, for it certainly can be made to succeed, and you can do it. 

To the professional man with regular office hours — to the 
laboring man with regular working hours — the rabbit industry 
offers a peculiarly attractive field for spare time early in the 
mornings and late in the afternoons. If worked properly, th-^ 
side line may bring in more revenue than the main day's work. 

The housewife who would like some time in the mornings and 
evenings out in the open with beautiful live things will find that 
by careful management she can increase both her pleasure in 
life, and her pin money. Poultry has long been the forte of 
women. The breeding of rabbits is just as attractive and re- 
quires less work and may be made far more profitable. 

Especially do we want to emphasize that rabbit breeding is 
peculiarly suitable for the school boy. First of all, every boy 
ought to have some business of his own — one that he is respon- 
sible for. in order that he may learn business management by 
managing. No boy can spend his entire leisure time in idleness 
or worthless play and expect to develop into a successful busi- 
ness manager when he is a man. 

My young friend! Do you expect to be a successful business 
manager in after life? If so, as a boy, you should develop re- 
sourcefulness and get experience in business management; and 
nowhere can this be done better than in raising rabbits. Get a 
trio, build three hutches, and plan and manage the business. 
Then when you want a few extra dollars for circus day you will 
not have to ask for them. 

Parents all want their boys to have good business judgment. 
■|)Ut often forget that the only way to acquire anything is by ex- 
ercising the faculties. They do all the managing for their sons 
in a business way, allowing them no opportunity to develop ini- 
tiative in a business enterprise — no opportunity to gain invaluable- 



16 SCIENFIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 



experience by actually managing a business all their own; and 
then are surprised when a boy reaches manhood if he does not 
blossom at once into a successful business man. 

Give your boy some business all his own — one that may bt: 
managed on a small scale, yet one that, if managed with energy 
and business sagacity, may grow into a big money-maker; turn 
him loose at it, possibly advising him here and there, but let him 
manage it. 

No business under the sun can afford such a combination of 
advantages for the boy in training and possibilities in money- 
making as commercial rabbit farming. While he should realize 
emphatically that he is not raising pets, but breeding live stock 
for the commercial market, still the i-abbit will call out those ad- 
mirable qualities in the boy's nature that attachment to animals 
always calls forth. 

Then the scientific knowledge the boy gains from first han-l 
contact with actual life will be wholesome as well as highl" 
profitable in his educational development. The facts of nature, 
the laws of inheritance, and the necessity of strict observance of 
the rules of purity will all be indelibly impressed on his mirid, and 
can but result in building a stronger and better manhood. 

HOW TO BEGIN. — As soon as you decide to enter tliC bus - 
ness of commercial rabbit farniing, get some young stock n^ tb.- 
best possible blood. 

Do not wait till you think you have mastered the details of 
the business before getting stock. Get some i-abl)its and then 
study with the rabbits before you as an object lesson. 

•Do not make the mistake of trying to start with too many. 
A trio is an abundant supply for a starter, as there arc many 
things you must learn and you will doubtless make mistakes. If 
you start with too many you cannot study eocb soecinien as yon 
should to learn the lesson it would teach. If you should try 
to start with more than three you will be tempted to sacrifict? 
quality for quantity; you will buy cheap ones in order to get sev- 
eral. Learn now, once for all, that cheap stock is not wort i 
raising. It is much better to invest all the money you have for 
this purpose in two oi- three fine Ijlooded specimens, than to buy 
fifty ordinary ones. Get fine stock, and then your young ones 
will be fancy animals. Remember, it does not take long to buiW^ 
ap a hei'd. One doo will raise at least 25 young ones a year, so vr- 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BR EEDING 1 7 

a short time you can have a lai'ge herd. If you invest in stand- 
ard rabbits, bred and tested by a standard breeder or in a stand- 
ard institution, your herd will be something to be proud of, and 
will be a big money maker; while if you buy cheap stock from 
an unreliable breeder, you will neither make money nor have 
stock that you will be proud of. 

Now, one other point of advice. Buy young- stock. It is all 
right to buy a full grown doe, but if you will put the samo 
amount of money into young stock you will get two advantages: 

First, you will get better stock for the money. As an illus- 
tration of this, we have now in the college hutches a litter of 
seven, three months old. They must now be separated, necessi- 
tating the Imilding- of seven new hutches. This is the finest 
pedigreed blood and at seven months old we would probably ask 
:?5 each. Rather than build seven new hutches we might to- 
day take $40 for a trio of these fine young rabbits. That is an il- 
lustration. Consider it and think what you would gain by payinr? 
$40 for three young rabV)its which in three more months might 
cost you $150. 

lUiy the best stock you can possibly afford, and remember in 
paying the same price to a reputable breeder you get finer stock 
by buying young than you do by paying the same money for ma- 
ture stock. 

The second advantage of starting with young stock is that 
you actually, by experience, learn the ways of rabbits before 
they are ready to bring on new litters; and for the beginner thisr* 
is important. Do not be impatient and spend a few dollars for 
mature stock. If this is the best you can do, wait till you can 
JMiy high grade young stock. It will not take long for them to 
mature; you can almost see them grow. In a few weeks they 
'Aill be ready to present you with large litters, and then you will 
be thankful that you spent sufficient money to get good blood. 



1 8 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BRFEDINC 

CHLVPTKR V. 

THE HOUSING PROBLEM. 

The question of housing is the real problem in rabbit culture. 
Little actual space is needed, but this space should be properly 
arranged. The home of one rabbit is the hutch — a group of 
hutches is a rabbitry. 

As is stated elsewhei:e in this book, more and better n'teat can 
be produced in less space with the commercial rabbit than witn 
any other animal. But this space absolutely must be arranged 
with three essential principles in view all the time. These prin- 
ciples are: First, cleanliness. Rabbits will not live and thriV'^ 
in filth. Second, sun-tempered air. It is not necessary to have 
the direct sunshine in the hutch; in fact, during hot weather any 
direct sunshine except early morning and very late afternoon 
sun is detrimental. The nest box should never be directly in th;i 
sunshine. Sunshine easily destroys fancy coloring. But th'^ 
hutch must be arranged so as to have plenty of air for ventila- 
tion, and this air should come freely from nearby sunshine. 

The third essential is to keep the hutch dry and free from 
drafts. Wet floors breed all kinds of ti-ouble, and while the raV)- 
bit will thrive in most severe climates, he cannot stand a draft. 

There has possibly been more written about housing than a'l 
other phases of Rabbit Craft combined. Most treatises contai*. 
drawings and descriptions of model hutches. They are fine for 
the man who planned them, for he was considering the exa-t 
location of his property. But for you they can be used only as 
suggestions of what you ought to have. Scarcely two people u< 
America have back yards located exactly alike, and if you want 
to start in the rabbit business get the fundamental principles o? 
the hutch down thoroughly and then work out the details to 
suit your location. 

So we prefer not to give elaborate descriptions of any model 
rabbitry, but merely to impress upon you the essentials, and then 
offer some suggestions. With this knowledge, if you have sense 
enough to make a success of the business, you can arrange your 
hutches to fit into your present premises better than we could 
suggest one plan that M^ould lit anywhere approximately, and no- 
where accui-atelv. 



SCIENTIFIC RABBI T BREEDING I 9 



The fundamentals (get these now and always remember 
them) are: First, arrange your hutches so they may be easily- 
cleaned, and then keep them clean. Second, arrange them so 
they will have plenty of ventilation with sun tempered air. Third. 
build and place them so there cannot be a draft striking the rab- 
bits; keep them dry. We have repeated this because we want 
you to keep it in mind at every step of the construction. Tha 
individual hutch may be as small as 2 feet wide, 4 feet long, and 
2 feet high. It is better if it is 3 by 5 feet; larger than this is 
unnecessary, unless you want to turn several litters together ac 
weaning time. Then a room 10 to 12 feet square is not out of 
place. 

The commercial rabbit has been bred in confinement for hun- 
dreds of generations and will not do well turned loose in the 
yard like chickens. Outdoor runs any size you wish to makv>, 
them are all right, provided you do not keep them constantly 
on the same ground; if you do the germs of cocidia will c'evelop 
and kill them. 

The first commercial rabbit brought to the college was pur- 
chased from an exhibitor at the state fair. She was a bred doe, 
and we had no hutches built. We simply took an old goods box 

aliout 2 feet wide and 2 feet high, and 4 feet long, knocked of* 
one side and put 1-inch poultry wire over this. W^e then turned 
it bottom up on the garage floor, took an apple box about 1?^ 
inches high and 12 wide, by 14 inches long, and cut out a good 
size hole in one end and turned it bottom side up under the bi;< 
box as a nest box; we turned up the edge of the box each dav 
and swept it out and disinfected it. And we raised a fine little 
bunch of nine babies. 

Hutches may be stacked on top of each other, two three, oi" 
four high. Two high is the most convenient. The bottom or /r 
should be at least one foot from the ground or it will be damp 
they should ])e solidly (^losed on three sides, or else you v>'ill have 
drafts. The front should be built of 1-inch poultry wire, or else 
you v.ill not have the proper ventilation. This front, of course, 
;houkl be hinged, that you may be able to clean out the hutch 
and atten'4 to the rabbit. The long side had better be the front; 
(Otherwise it will be more trouble to clean out and keep dry, and 
you may neglect it. In niaking the wire door, nail the wire on 
the inside of the frame, as rab])its are rather bad to gnaw at the 
floor fr.-ime. 



20 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

We have hutches built out under the oaks of the campus for 
summer, and others inside the buildings for winter. We keep 
some rabbits outside all the year, and some inside; though the 
g'reatest • number are outside in summer and inside in winter. 
This is done simply because it is almost impossible to keep them 
dry and free from drafts if they are outside in winter, and to give 
them proper air for ventilation if they are kept inside in summer. 

The hutch floor may be covered with shavings, sawdust or 
straw. These materials absorb the filth, and by using them yo; 
may not find it necessary to clean over twice a week if only ono 
rabbit is in a rather large hutch. Some breeders make a prac- 
tice of placing an open box about a foot square and three inches 
high, partly filled with sawdust in one corner of the hutch. Most 
rabbits will learn to use this box for a toilet; thus the labor ot 
cleaning is lightened. The nest box should be a foot square, 
with a hole in one end. It should have a hinged side or top, or 
some other arrangement for easy and thorough inspection. It 
should have a top on it, for two reasons. First, the rabbit mav 
have proper exercise in jumping up and down. Second, that the 
mother may get out of reach of the young ones when she does not 
want to nurse them. As a rule, rabl)its only suckle the younp: 
twice a day — early in the morning and lute in the evening 

If there is no top to the nest box, a shelf should be built. It 
is a good idea to put a hurdle in the hutch for young rabbits 2 
to 4 months old — jumping this will give them the proper exer- 
cise for development. 

Much has been said in the last few years about self-cleanin'.v 
hutches. These are all right if you want to build them. You do 
not need any elaborate specifications. I will give you th'^ princi- 
ple, and you can construct them any particular way you wish. 
The principle is that of the double floor. The floor upon which 
the rabl)it lives is level, but made of 2V2-inch strips with from 
one-eighth to one-quarter inch cracks. Under this is a second 
floor, very steep— 2 to 4-inch slope to the foot. The filth, fall- 
ing through the cracks of the first floor, rolls down this floor and 
out of the hutch. Self-cleaning hutches will V)e found the most 
economical in the long run. as they will save a great deal of la- 
l)or. 

!<" the one-floor hut(^h is used the floor should be made tight, 
out of matched lunibei- and a slight slope, so that writer wi'! 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 21 

drain out; though rabbits should not be forced to live on a steep 
hillside. If you use the self-cleaning hutches a trough can be 
constructed that will catch the filth from two or more hutches 
and water can be run down through the trough to wash it out 

Each hutch should have built into it a hay rack, as hay should 
never be thrown down on the floor of the hutch. This rack may 
lie constructed of any kind of wire; one-inch poultry wire may 
]je used if the rack is not too deep. Care must be taken not to 
build the rack so that young rabbits can crawl into it. 

The hay rack should have a strip in the bottom, an inch or 
moi-e thick, so the fine particles of haj^ will not fall directly on 
the floor where filth can seep into it. It should be built V shape, 
narrow at the Vjottom. The top may be opened and exposed to 
the outside of the hutch; then it will not be necessary to open the 
door to feed hay. 

Feeding vessels should be heavy, stone or wood, as rabbits 
will turn over light ones or knock them about in their play. They 
should not be permanently fastened, however, as they must be 
taken out and disinfected. 

In starting your rabbitry be sure to build so it can be en- 
larged. No industry increases as rapidly as commercial rabbit 
farming. A large industry can grow quickly from a very small 
l)eginning. If you do not build so as to be able to add to it, you 
will be surprised how soon you will have to tear down and re- 
build. 



22 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

CHAPTER VI. 

FEEDING AND FOOD VALUE. 

The most fundamental key to scientific life buildin;? is the 
proper knowledge of food value. Your success or failure will 
depend upon the way you feed. Other things are necessary 
helps but feeding is the real thing; for the food is what makes 
the rabbit. Every atom of its little body is changed frequently. 
There is not one single atom in its hair, flesh, or bone that it 
possessed a few months ago. Then what is that eight or ten 
pounds of flesh, fur and bone? It is simply the digested food 
that you have given. 

In raising rabbits, as in any stock farming, you are creating 
life. The wonderful problem that is given you is to takt- a gal- 
lon of oats, a bunch of hay, and a jug of water and so mix it as to 
form a rabbit. FascinatingI Well, what could be more interest- 
ing than to thus inanipulate that oats, hay and water, and watch 
it develop? 

In raising rabbits the breeder is more surely the architect of 
the body and life than in almost any other form of stock raising. 
For the rabbit is confined to the eight or ten square feet of his 
hutch home, and is helpless in your hands; he can eat only what 
you give him. If you don't give your poultry a well balanced 
ration they will i-ustle for it, but your rabbit is confined and 
cannot do that. 

It is true you cannot make a rabbit by any kind of chemical or 
mechanical combination of your oats, hay, and water without 
nature's life spark, and you cannot create this life spark except 
by growing it from other life, as the housewife continues her 
yeast by taking a pinch from the old to grow the new. But re- 
member also that this life spark cannot develop in the body and 
life of a rabbit without your building it out of food. The life 
si)ark of the baby rabbit is, as it were, the scientific crucible in 
which .\ou mix and burn the food, creating the live, gi-owing. 
beautiful thing that you call a thoroughl)red rabbit. 

Bearing this in mind, one begins to realize the supreme im- 
portance of knowing what to feed and how to feed it. That is 
how to give a scientifically balanced ration in order that the 
Iti'oi)or results \uny be obtained. Poor stock, properly fed, may 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 23 

jnake very attractive animals, but the very finest blooded stock, 
improperly fed, will only produce the shabbiest scrubs at best. 
The first principle of a balanced ration is a varied ration. 
Above we used, for purpose of illustration, oats, hay, and water. 
Now, the author has actually produced fair specimens of rabbits 
with absolutely nothing but these three, yet no one diet, even 
the best balance ration, when constantly fed, can give satisfac- 
tory results. 

Variation is the law of life. All animal forms have been 
evolved because life has, instinct in it, the law of variation. The 
principle means by which this variation has operated is that the 
very conditions of all wild natural life is such as to force it to 
feed on a variety of things. There is not found in the natural 
state a sufficiency of any particular food for any one animal to 
live simply on it alone. So in. the wild state the rabbit, like all 
other animals, fed on a variety of things, and for the best results 
thi.s same varietj^ must be kept up in captivity. 

WHiile variety is essential, there is a reason why it is eFsential, 
and this reason must be understood, or else one might be satis- 
fied with a mere variety without any consideration as to whai: 
lliat variety is. The reason for it is very simple: The completed 
raid lit that we wish to build has fur, flesh, fat, and bono; these 
differ in constitution and, as they must all be built out cf food, 
that food must contain elements from which each may be proper- 
ly l)uilt. 

The scope of this treaties will not allow a full discussion of 
food analysis, nor does the practical breeder need it. What is 
needed, and what we will give, is a very concise statement, so as 
to illustrate the essential importance of scientific feeding, and 
then, rules for practical guidance, naming the foods, and methods 
of feeding that we have found Ijest. 

The body of an animal contains five elemental substances — 
water, ash. protein, fat and carbohydrates; and to give a balanced 
ration means to give food that contains the proper proportion of 
these five elements, that they may be built into the body. The 
following is simply a general analysis of some of the most com- 
mon food used in the rabbitry. Alfalfa contains about eight per 
cent water, nine ash, fourteen protein, sixty-six carbohydrates, 
and two per cent of fat. Carrots, eighty-eight per cent of water 
one of protein, one of ash, nine of carbohydrates, and a mer^ 



24 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BR EEDING 

fraction of fat. While oats contain nearly eight per cent of fat. 
seven per cent of water, and fifteen per cent of protein. 

• However, what we as rabbit breeders want is practical re- 
sults in building- life, and not chemical analysis; j'^et, without 
chemical analysis as a guide we would be lost in a maze of guess- 
work. So below will be found a few practical rules for selecting- 
the proper balanced ration with its administration. 

First, feed regularly, twice a day at about the same time, giv- 
ing a smaller feed in the morning than at night. One feed a 
day will prove successful when time for two cannot be found, 
This should be a good strong feed at night. 

Second, feed some grain once a day. But only the amount 
that will be eaten up clean in about 20 minutes. If the rabbit 
leaves some, feed less next time; if she eats it up clean in less 
than 15 minutes, add a little more next time. Grain may be fed 
twice a day, but once will get just as good results. Give them 
all they will eat but do it so they will always be hungry for the 
next feed. 

Oats and cracked barley are possibly the best all-i'ound 
gi'ains; a mixture of cracked corn, milo, and wheat is good. 

Third, feed hay at least once a day — and do not put it down 
on the floor, for therii to step on and mess up. Dry hay is th-^ 
only food that may safely be kept before them all the time and 
it is best to let the hay rack get empty before the next feeding;- 
time. Alfalfa is probably the best all-round hay. 

Fourth, green food. This will be found to be one of the very 
best feeds, as well as the most economical. Any green thing may 
be fed except cabbage leaves and peach branches. There are 
only two rules to follow. First, be careful not to feed too much, 
especially in the spring when you first l)egin using it, and most 
especially with the young. However, if you will use judgment 
and give some dry feed, a little grain and hay, your expense dur- 
ing the spring and summer will be reduced to a very low mini 
mum. The second essential thing to notice in using green feed 
is that it must not be wet, or going through the heat decomposi- 
tion. Garden scraps piled into a basket and set till you use then^ 
up will heat and be poisonous to your ra})bits. Potato peelingn 
should be boiled before using. 

Fifth, mashes. A frequent use of mashes will be found very 
beneficial if cai'e is tal<en not to make it sloppy. Wheat Ijr.an 



SCIEN riFIG RABBIT BREEDING 25 



mash is excellent, especially in cold weather, made with wariii 
water. A good mash is a mixture of bran, barley meal and a 
little linseed meal; care must be taken not to feed too much lin- 
seed meal, while a little will be found to be a most excellent 
tonic, especially for show animals. 

Stale bread is good if not moldy, and, softened with milk, iti 
most excellent, especially lor young or suckling does. If you 
will toast the bread (be careful not to butter it) and then crum- 
ble it and soften with whole or skim milk you will have a splen- 
didly balanced ration. Milk is good used sparingly. Oatmeal is 
fine. 

Sixth, salt and water. Fresh w^ater should be given twice a 
day — once a day in very cold weather, using- warm water; never 
water that has been frozen. While water is essential it is still 
more essential that it be clean, and that all water dishes be kept 
perfectly clean. Use wa.ter dishes that can be freqnently 
scoured. 

Give your rabbits salt. Rock salt may be used by sticking a 
piece in the wire netting or suspending it from a string tacked 
to the top of the hutch; or spool salt may be nailed to the side 
of the hutch. Never allow rock salt to get down on the floor 
and get dirty. Really, the safest way is to sprinkle a little table 
salt over the grain or mash two or three times a week. 



26 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

CHAPTER VII. 

MATING AND CARE OF YOUNG. 

There are several very important things under this heading 
that may be plainly and briefly stated. Many volumes have been 
written on the subject, and our purpose is to state simply those 
things that must be known and followed to assure success. 

HAVE A DEFINITE AIM. Nothing can be accomplished 
without a definite aim. Study the chapter on standards, then 
compare it with your stock and arrange clearly in your mind the 
strong and the weak points in your stock, and set about breeding 
the different specimens you have in such combinations so as to 
increase the good points and to diminish or eliminate the weak 
ones. 

The most essential thing is to get high-class breeding stock 
to start with, or with which to improve the stock you already 
have. Do not think that any kind of new blood introduced into 
your herd will improve it. Get the best, and to do this you must 
pay a good price, and demand a high scoring record. 

Do not buy the first rabbit offered you just because you arn 
offered a pedigree with him. The right kind of pedigree is 
worth something, for it shows that the specimen is well bred 
But there are rabbits on the market carrying regular pedigrees 
which pedigrees are not worth the paper on which they are writ- 
ten, for they simply recite the names of their sires for three gen- 
erations, which may not cover but a couple of years. And whai 
does the name Bill or Sallie signify? Or they may be mongrels 
with high-sounding names. Such pedigrees are usually as 
worthless as the scrub stock to which they belong. 

If you get a pedigree, demand that the sires and dames ap- 
pearing in the family tree are shown to be worth having their 
blood preserved, and their names recorded. Demand that thr 
pedigree show either registration numbers or prizes won. 

The best way is to get stock from a reputable breeder who 
knows the science of breeding, and whose standing is such as to 
assure you good stock. If you are just beginning, buy a pair, or a 
trio. If you already have stock, write the breeder from whom 
you expect to buy a description of your stock, with its strong an,I 
weak points. Tell him where you want to improve it, and leave 



SCIENriFIC RABBIT BREEDING 27 



to his judgment the stock you need. But be sure you are dealing 
with a man, firm, or institution who will not take this oppor- 
tunity to ship you what he wants to get rid of rather than what 
you need. Do not expect to get this high-class blood for a mere 

song. 

The Plan of Mating. 

In building to your ideal stock the blood of the fatlier and 
mother are both equally important. However, if you wish to im- 
prove a herd you already have, the quickest and cheapest way is 
to buy the highest grade stud buck available and breed him to 
your best does. In breeding for shape the doe is possibly the 
most important factor. In color, however, the buck controls at 
least two-thirds of the strength. 

Do not breed rabbits till about mature, 7 ^^ or 8 months old 
for Belgians and New Zealands, and 11 or 12 months for Giants. 
Breed only stock that is perfectly healthy at the time, not even 
having a cold. Do not breed when molting (shown by roughened 
hair and patches coming out). 

Select the specimens that you wish to breed, take the doe to 
the buck's hutch — never otherwise — and watch them carefully. 
Sometimes she will not receive him; then try her over again 
every other day till she does. Be careful, however, to watch, 
standing at a respectful distance and making no noise. It will 
take only an instant, and if the service was effected while you 
had your back turned you would not know that she was bred, and 
would likely keep trying her till she injured her future litter. 

You can easily know when the service is effected, the doe will 
laisp her hind quarters, and the buck will fall" entirely over side- 
ways, his hind feet slip43ing out from under him. Let her rest a 
few seconds, not long enough, however, for a second service, and 
gently remove her to her own hutch. Try her again in a week 
and if she will not take the buck she is most certain to be bred. 

Sometimes a doe, especially a young one, will refuse the buck. 
She will continually run away from him or hug the floor. Let 
her remain for six or eight minutes, then take her out and try her 
another day. If this is repeated several times without effect 
feed her on soaked peas or oats that have been soaked for twen- 
ty-four hours and then dried in the sun. 

If the buck shows low vitality beat a raw egg in milk, and 



28 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BRF:EDING 

give him a third of it. Do not try a doe to two bucks in succes- 
sion. The second buck may smell the odor of the first and fight 
her. Sometimes they will fight anyway; when they begin this 
separate them immediately. 

A young- buck should never be used over twice a week and 
in his prime not over three times. Care should be taken that 
the does are not too fat. Rabbits over three years old are not 
good breeders, fatten the old ones and send them to the meat 
market. If, however, you have a fine old specimen and want an- 
other litter, mate the old one with a young one just coming to 
good breeding age. 

.THE TIME OF BREEDING. Rabbits will breed all the year, 
though it is sometimes very difficult to get results in the fall, 
which is not the natural breeding season. Beginning with a doe 
8 months old, she can be made to bring four litters a year all 
right; some recommend only three, and others have gotton five 
or six satisfactory litters a year. It will take 30 days to kindle 
from the day of breeding and if the mother is properly cared for 
she may be bred again when the litter is 4 or 5 weeks old, letting^ 
the young ones stay with her for two weeks longer. This will 
give four litters a year and two or three months' complete rest 
during the extreme winter in Northern climates, or the mid- 
summer and early fall of southern climates. Careful attention 
should be given to the feeding of the nursing does — milk-produc- 
ing food, mashes, oatmeal and bread and milk should be alter- 
nated with the regular diet. 

CARE OF THE YOUNG. A few days before kindlin?; the dor- 
will prepare her nest and she should have perfect quiet and plen- 
ty of clean straw. A few hours before kindling she will pull fuv 
from her body to line the nest and wrap the babies. Sometimes 
a doe will be found who will scatter her .^^oung over the hutch, 
or even eat them. This is due to her being too fat, the body 
creating a superabundance of heat. Rarely the cannibal tend- 
ency becomes a habit, which may sometimes be offset by placing 
a piece of bacon in the hutch to satisfy the abnormal craving for 
meat. 

The young ones should not be touched for the first day. On 
the second day, either remove the doe gently from the hutch or 
give her a tempting feed to center her attention, and carefully 
examine the nest for dead ones.If she has over eight live ones, 
kill the smallest for the ral)bit has but eight teats and while 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 29 

the writer has raised eleven from one litter, more than eight 
cannot be raised satisfactorily, and six is better. 

If you have an extra fine specimen and want to l)reed for the 
show room or to get extraordinary breeding stock, take all but 
three away, either killing them or giving them to a nurse doe 
(some common specimen known to be a good mother, which 
kindled the same day), being sure to wrap the babies in the fos- 
ter mother's own fur to kill the scent of their true mother, or 
she will not own them). 

They will get their eyes open in about nine days, and in about 
three weeks will begin to run around over the hutch. Keep 
strong grain out of their reach for a while. Do not wean them 
under six weeks — eight is better. They should then be taken 
away from the mother, that she may prepare for another litter. 
If raising for the market, put the young ones together in a small 
hutch and give all the food they can handle, so as to market 
them at three or four monts old as friers. (See chapter on 
housing). 

LINE AND INBREEDING. Inbreeding is breeding close 
relatives promiscuously, and should, never 1)e done. Line breed- 
ing is breeding father to daughter and mother to son, which may 
be done successful, but should only be practiced if there i? 
some very desirable trait which you wish to make permanent in 
the strain. Brother and sister should not be bred for the best 
results. If the stock is perfectly healthy and normal, even this 
may be done without very bad effect. But the perfectly normal 
animal is rare, and inbreeding always exaggerates any defects. 
Do not trust to getting unrelated breeders merely by buying does 
from one breeder and bucks from another. The writer tried that 
once and bought cousins from breeders living over a thousand 
miles apart. Rabbits are now shipped all over the United 
States. Buy both buck and doe from the same breeder, pro- 
vided he has the proper backing; he will ship you strains he 
knows will l)e the proper matings. 

Be careful not to breed a fine specimen to a common mon- 
grel, or the high standard of the best specimen may i eally be 
mnteriallv lower. This looks strange but is scientifically true. 



30 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

Handling the Young After Weaning. 

If you have an ear marker, so as to identify the different lit- 
ters for future breeding stock, it is well to put several litters about 
the same age into a large run where they can romp and play, 
thus getting better development. At 4 months old, the bucks must 
be separated from the does. 

The inexperienced breeder may have some difficulty in tell- 
ing the bucks and does apart. There is no way to knov/ except 
to look. Turn the specimen over on its back and press the organ 
open with the thumb and finger. The male will appear round 
and the female with a slit. 

Young bucks must be separated and placed to themselves in 
a hutch at about 5 months old, or when they begin to fight. 
Young does raised together need not be separated till bred. 

Handle your young rabbits as much as possible. Old ones, 
too, for that matter, you will find two advantages in this; first, 
you can watch closer for the first symptom of disease and then 
later on when it becomes necessary to handle them in mating, 
they will not be wild. 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 3 1 

CHAPTER VIII. 

DISEASE. 

Rabbits may be raised in larger numbers in smaller space and 
kept freer from disease than any other commercial animal. 
Should one who is contemplating entering the commercial rabbit 
industry glance over an ordinary guide and see the long list of 
diseases to which rabbits may become heir he would probably be 
discouraged from ever attempting to raise them. The fact is 
rabbits may be kept healthier with less effort than any other 
domestic animal. Notice that we said kept freer. Unless rabbits 
are properly cared for they will contract more diseases and die 
more quickly than almost any other domestic animal. 

Pretention. 

In raising any animal, the thing that should be studied is how 
to prevent disease, rather than how to cure it. The beauty of 
of rabbit breeding is that the rules for prevention of diseases are 
very simple and the virtue of it is that when properly followed 
they will almost absolutely prevent all form of diseases. These 
rules are: 

First. — House them properly, giving (a) sunshine, (b) free- 
dom from draft, (c) freedom from dampness, (d) avoid extreme 
heat. See chapter on housing. 

Second. — Keep clean. While cleanliness is next to Godliness 
everywhere, in rabbit culture, cleanliness is success. See chapter 
on housing. 

Third. — Disinfect. At least twice a year thoroughly white- 
wash the rabbitry inside and out, nest boxes and all. To the 
lime water used in whitewashing add a little salt and a smar 
amount of some good disinfectant. Now while this whitewash- 
ing is necessary as part of the scheme of disinfecting, it is only 
the beginning. A good germ killing disinfectant must be select- 
ed, and this must be used thoroughly at least once a month. 

Take a good strong disinfectant and mix it about 1 part to 40 
pa Its of water, and spray it in all parts of the hutch, especially 
in the farthereist corners, where the most dampness is 
shown when hutch is cleaned. Then, once a month disinfect 
thoronghlv all feed and water vessels. If vessels are such that 



32 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

they may be scalded all right. But washing with warm water 
will not do — they must be scalded. If you cannot scald them, dip 
them in the, above solution of disinfectant. This does not take 
the place of the ordinary daily cleaning. No food or water 
should be put in dirty vessels always clean them out if dirty be- 
fore the daily feeding, and then once a month disinfect thor- 
oughly. 

Now, before beginning to raise rabbits, make up your mind 
that you will strictly observe these three rules. If disease should 
develop in your rabbitry, the first step to take towards effecting 
a cure will be to take the diseased rabbit entirely away from the 
proximity of all others, for every rabbitry should be provided 
with a base hospital, for sometime you will be careless and let 
disease creep in, or you may buy infected stock. The first thiuL; 
you will naturally do when you take a sick rabbit to the hospital 
is to see that it is the proper place for your patient, that it is 
clean, disinfected and dry. Then why not observe these three 
rules in your entire rabbitry and be practically free from dis- 
ease? 

While prevention is what you should aim at, you may have 
sick rabbits; then the next most valuable rule to observe is— - 
treat the ailment in time. Do not let the disease develop into 
a serious case before you begin treatment. Most diseases, it is 
said, may be prevented; now we add that all diseases may be 
cured if proper treatment is begun in time. 

Always keep on hand a variety of standard remedies, so that 
immediately upon the appearance of the first symptom you may 
begin treatment without the loss of a moment's time. When you 
are careless and expose your rabbit to a draft, and it sneezes for 
the first time, give a little snuffle medicine right then. Do not 
put off till tomorrow, or till you are sure the rabbit has snuffles. 

SNUFFLES. — This is the most common and contagio-js of all 
rabbit diseases, and positively volumes have been written on it. 
It is not only contagious but the tendency toward it is inherited 
by the offspring of a specimen suffering from it. It is a chronic 
cold. Live arguments have been held by rabbit l)reeders as to 
when the cold ends and snuffles begins. It is true the cold mav 
develop into catarrh, or influenza, or into snuffles. If thp former 
is developed, a thin, transparent fluid comes from the nose; if 
the latter, the discharge will be thick and white, or yei'owish 
The thing you want to do, of course, is to cure it liefore either 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 33 

is developed. 

The first symptom is sneezing. When this occurs, other than 
from dust or dry hay, the rabbit has caught cold. It has caught 
cold from one of two reasons. It has gotten wet or been on a 
cold damp, floor and been in a draft. Correct this at once and 
administer a cold or snuffle cure. If you have none on hand, 
make it, using Eucalyptus oil as the most important ingredient, 
mixing it with spirits of turpentine oil or wine of tar, and spray 
the nose. Keep the bowels open with castor oil. 

COCCIDIOSIS. — This is the cholera or black plague of the 
rabbit family, and but very little is scientifically known about 
it. It was the disease that brought to a sudden end the Belgian 
Hare boom of some 20 years ago; rather the spread of the disease 
in a fatal epidemic in practically all the rabbitries was the cause 
of quitting. 

The disease is the infection of a minute parasite of the animal 
kingdom, a protozoa. It is not a bacteria of the vegetable king- 
dom. A rabbit may be infected with this little pest and be 
healthy enough not to allow it to multiply in its system: hence 
the rabbit may apparently be healthy, yet at the same time it 
may transmit this disease, and another specimen that does not 
have the same resisting power take it from the apparently healthy 
animal, and its system being less able to resist, the disease gets 
the upper hand and develops. 

The first noticeable symptom Is refusal to eat, and constipa- 
tion. Of course, this may be caused by other things. If this is 
accompanied by swelling around the eyes, and a puffy, bloodless 
condition of the sexual organ, coccidiosis is most probably the 
trouble. 

No cure has been found, and almost certain death when the 
disease is well developed, though as stated, a few of the germs 
may live in a healthy rabbit for years and never be able to mul- 
tiply sufficient to develop any symptom. The best remedy we 
have found is to put a little coperas in the drinking water. A 
dose of castor oil, or some turpentine in melted lard. 

Prevention is the only sane way, and this may absolutely be 
secured by perfectly clean hutches, good disinfectant frequently 
used, plenty of ventilation, and some sunshine in the hutch. The 
disease is almost always developed in the hot months of summer 
and early fall. Keep your rabbits in a cool place with early 
morning .'^un and fresh cool water three times a day, and you wil! 



34 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

not be likely to have it developed. 

EAR CANKER. — This is a very common disease and possibly 
the easiest of all to handle. It is caused by a microscopic par- 
asite that gets into the ear and causes a scab in which it rapidly 
multiplies. The symptom is a thick, yellowish wax in the ear. 
Examine your rabbits frequently for signs of this. At the first 
appearance put a few drops of olive oil, oil of camphor, cotton 
seed or cocoanut oil. If the discharge is bad, clean it out with a 
dull instrument, possibly softening it with luke warm water, be- 
fore applying the remedy. It can be cured with one or two appli- 
cations. 

DIARRHOEA. — Watch for this especially in young stock 
when green feed is being used. It is caused by too much green 
feed, or feeding wet or partly decayed green stuff or sloppy food. 
If the droppings appear soft and cling together, put on dry feed. 
If this does not cure at once give a little laudanum or powdered 
cinnamon. 

POT BELLY. — Young rabbits fed too much green feed, or 
overfed, will develop a bloated condition of the s'tomach caused by 
gas accumulated from undigested food. 

Take all food away from them for 24 hours, then change 
to a mild, dry food of milk and bread. Or, if no green food has 
been used previously a little will now loosen up the stomach. 
Give good dose of castor oil. Colic constipation may also be 
cured with castor oil. 

SLOBBERS. — This is acute indigestion, occurring almost al- 
together in young rabbits. They have eaten too soon or more 
than their stomachs can digest. The undigested food causes a 
saliva in the mouth that runs out and wets the under jaw and 
breast. Give no food for 12 hours and then rub table salt in its 
mouth, around its lips and jaws. Then be careful with its diet, 
as you should have been before, for this disease is caused by. an 
"under-nourished condition of the system, due to lack of proper 
food. You will notice it almost altogether among the voung of 
does which are poor milkers. 

ABSCESSES and I'ARALYSIS. — An abscess is a large lump 
appearing on some part of the body, while yaralysis is loss of con- 
trol of the hind quarters. Now they seem to be entirely differ 
ent but caused by the same thing; a bruise or lick. This may be 
caused by running into the nest box and bumping some part of 
the body, jerking around and strikiiig something when suddenh' 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 35 

scared, or jumping off the next box. 

For paralysis there is no remedy. The abscess should be let 
alone till it gets somewhat soft, then make a rather large cut, re- 
move all the puss and puss-pocket if possible and wash out with 
peroxide of hydrogen, and rub on a little salve. 

BOILS and SORE HOCKS. — These are the same things, and 
are caused by bad blood, which results from wrong feeding, 
usually too rich a diet. Boils should be opened as soon as matter 
can be squeezed out, cutting the hair away clean. This should be 
repeated several times, each time using a few drops of peroxide 
and some salve. 

Sore hocks is where the whole underside of the hind leg be- 
comes infected. This starts with a little boil on the hock and as 
it bursts and spreads its infectious matter, others appear till the 
whole hock is a mass of sores. Apply a good salve and tie the leg 
up so it cannot be licked off, changing every few days. Put the 
patient on sawdust floor or deep straw and keep the hutch clean 
^ — as you should have done before. 

VENT and VENEREAL. — Both these affect the sexual organs 
and are very contagious, so if there is the least affection of the 
sexual organ never breed the specimen. Their similarity, how- 
ever, ends here as the former is an external disease acquired by 
sitting on filthy floors and may be cured, while the latter is in- 
ternal and no attempt should be made to cure it. If yoi; are in 
doubt as to which it is watch the specimen urinate. If the opera- 
tion causes marked pain and effort, knock it in the head at once. 

Vent disease is shown by the sexual organ, becoming inflamed 
and swollen. Bathe good in luke warm water and apply a good 
ointment or salve. It is caused by filthy hutches. Keep them 
cleaned, as we have already once before remarked. 

Swollen teats should be gently rubbed with oil or salted butter. 

ADMINISTERING MEDICINE. — Catch the i^abbit by the neck 
with the left hand,, turn it over on its back and place under the 
left arm. then your right hand is free to work. 

Always handle rabbits hy getting a firm hold of the fur and 
skin of the neck just back of the ears. Never lift them by the 
ears nor try to hold them any other way than above. 

In giving medicine that requires swallowing, open the mouth 
by pressing the thumb and finger between the jaws back of the 
teeth and force well down, into its throat and hold still until it 
is swallowed. 



36 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

CHAPTER IX. 

STANDARD. 

In the scientific breeding of any animal the standards to- 
ward which the breeders strive must be l<;ept clearly in mind at 
all times. If this is not done, the mating- will be haphazzard and 
the results disappointing. 

In looking over a litter of young rabbits 3 or 4 months old, 
when they should be separated, the breeder is confronted with the 
problem of which ones to sell, which possibly to eat, and which 
to set aside for future breeding stock. Of course, if he is selling 
for breeding purposes and is an honest breeder, he will use the 
same care in selecting the one to sell for this purpose as for those 
to place in his own breeding hutches. 

To the uninformed the litter of six or eight rabbits may all 
look alike, but when the breeder has studied standards, and keeps 
them clearly in mind he may pick as breeding stock young ones 
which have certain characteristics that will cause an improve- 
ment in the quality of his stock. 

This handbook is prepared especially for the scientific breeder 
of commercial rabbits for commercial purposes. So we ?^hall not 
devote any space to the special preparation of stock for the show 
room; yet the standards of the show room are the standards 
which the breeder must keep before him if he would produce the 
highest grade of stock, even if he only wishes to sell couimercial 
rabbit stock. 

This is true because the standard that has been adopted for 
the show room, or in the ring for any stock is the standard of 
highest efficiency for that breed of stock. Now it is true tha^^ 
sometimes a special fancy mark that has nothing to do with the 
real quality of the stock is chosen as a standard of judgment in 
the show room. This, however, is a fad, and will not stand the 
criticism long, but must soon yield its place to some mark that 
signifies real efficiency. 

The standard in the rabbit is just as important, and has ac- 
complished as much towards the improvement of the stock, as the 
standard for cattle. No one can walk through the aisles of a 
fat cattle exhibit and fail, as he looks at the splendid results that 
have been attained, to realize that marvelous things can truly be 
accomplished with animal life by adopting standards of i-eal effi-- 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 37 

ciency, and scientifically breeding to these standards. The mag- 
nificent cattle found on the registered stock farm has but a faint 
resemblance to the scrub stock of the pioneer American farmer: 
neither do the best pedigreed rabbits of today resemble the wild 
hares and rabbits that were caught and tamed in Western Europe 
two or three centuris ago. 

In cattle i-aising today there is no tendency to adopt a fancy 
mark as a standard that bears no significance in real efliciency. 
In general this is also true in scientific rabbit breeding, yet it is 
a lamentable fact that in certain circles of rabbit breeders there is 
an effort to get fancy and showy results at the expense of real 
efficiency. While this is unfortunate for • commercial rabbit 
farming, it is, however, very natural, for scientific rabbit breed- 
ing was developed, not through commercial channels, but through 
the effort of the pet stock fancier. And be it recognized once for 
all that it is high time for commercial rabbit farming to be en- 
tirely and eternally divided from the pet stock fancy. Commer- 
cial rabbit breeding and marketing should have no more to do 
with poodle dog raising and the breeding of that freak — the flop- 
eared rabbit, or the delicate white toy rabbit than the breeding 
of standard Hereford cattle should be associated with raising 
canary birds. 

Commercial rabbit farming is a dignified business tha* has for 
its purpose the supply of the world's needs for meat and fur, and 
not a hobby to V)e used as a pastime. So let's continue to elim- 
inate from the rabbit standards any tendency to breed for merc^ 
fancy and develop that type of stock that will be the most prolific 
in yielding meat and fur. 

At the present time there are three well recognized, and fairly 
well standardized breeds of commercial rabbits. There are doz- 
ens of other breeds of rabbits, some of which give promise of real 
commercial value, and may later on take their place with these 
three; however, the majority of these breeds will likely always re- 
main in the pet stock fancy as mere toys. We have nothing to do 
with any of these fancy breeds and wish to encourage only the 
scientific breeding and improvement of stock of the Belgian Hare, 
the New Zealand Red Rabbit, and the Flemish Giant. 

The standards given below are those which are best recognized 
today, and which, in our judgment, conforms closer to the stand- 
ard of efficiency than any that have been proposed. 

BELGIAN HARE RABBIT. — Shape: lengthy slender. 



38 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

back slightly arched, good length to head, tail straight. 

chest muscular. Score — 20 

Color: a dark cherry or Rufus Red, uniform over the en- 
tire body except belly, which is golden or creamy color. 
Score 20 

A rich black and wavy ticking. Score 10 

Feet and legs good length, solid color. Score 10 

Ears five inches long, black lacing around the tips, thin. 

good color, and firmly set. Score 5 

Carriage. Score 5 

Weight, 8 lbs., firm and solid. Score 15 

Eyes: large, rich hazel. Score 10 

Fur, rich and close set. Score 5 

NEW ZEALAND RED RABBIT. — Head: shapely, 

color, matching bodj'. Score 5 

The first noticeable syptom is refusal to eat, and constipation. 
Ears, erect. Color, matching body, free from black lacing. 

Score lO 

Eyes, large hazel, small white eye circle B 

Color, reddish buff, free from black hair, or light buff with 

reddish cream belly. Score 30 

Shape: Medium length and bedium broad fore and hincl 

quarters; doe well developed. Score 10 

Weight: Three months, 41/2 lbs.; four months. 5 lbs,; 
five months, 8 lbs.; twelve months, doe 12 lbs., buck 9 lbs. 

Score ^^ 

Legs and feet, strong and straight; color same as body. 

Score 1^ 

Condition: full coated and solid flesh. Score 

FLEMISH GIANT RABBIT. — No satisfactory standard ha^: 
yet been worked out for this class of rabbit, though they are now 
one of the most profitable commercial breeders. The main point 
to breed for is size and, roughly speaking, the following weights 
should be aimed at: Buck at two months, 41/2 lbs.; three months, 
6 lbs.; four months, 8 lbs; five months, 9 pounds; six months, 10 
lbs.; then he gains one-half pound per monts till at full maturity, 
fifteen months, he should weigh 14 1/^ lbs. Does at two months, 
5 lbs.; three months. 7 lbs.; four months, 9 H)s. ; five months, 10 
lbs; six months, 12 lbs.; seven months, 13 lbs.; eight months, 14 
lbs. These gain about one-half pound per month till full ma- 
turitv at twelve to fifteen months, when they should weigh about 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 39 

16 pounds. 

In selecting- the proper standard for breeding- stock the best 
way is to have a competent judge take all the available stock that 
is well pedigreed and score each specimen according to the above 
standards, and then select the highest score for the breeders. 
Now the scoring alone will not do, for in breeding ordinary 
stcok one will frequently be found that will show up well on the 
score card, jet it will be an accident if any of its offspring will 
equal itself. To illustrate this: the writer, some time ago, pur- 
chased a very high scoring New Zealand doe. She was a beauty 
and scored wonderfully near the 100 mark. Nothing c-ould be 
found of her pedigree; it was possibly thrown away on purpos'i, 
for as a single specimen she was excellent. She was bred four 
times to the very best blood, and from no litter did we get any 
single specimen that would have scored 60. She was evidently 
nine-tenths common utility stock and by a freak of atavism she 
herself got the traits of the one-tenth, but her offspring were 
scrubs. 

So in selecting breeding stock, know that the stock is good 
Itack to the fourth generation. 

Now, on the other hand, pedigree is not sufficient. For ex- 
ample: We have in the College breeding hutches one fine illus- 
ration of this. There is a litter of seven, six of them scored above 
!>0, one fell below 60. The litter was sired by Lake Barney, a 
.son of Frisco Boy, and the dame is Ferrell Fox, of the very best 
lilood in America. Now if you had bought from us, demand- 
ing the best pedigreed stock we had; we could have shipped yon 
that scrub and given you as fine pedigree papers as you could 
have gotten in America. 

The point is this: Buy your breeding stock from a reliable 
breeder, one who knows scientific breeding, and one with suffi- 
(Ment standing to insure your being treated as fair as a banking 
institution could treat you — a breeder with standing and reputa- 
tion at stake. He cannot afford to give you bad blood. Then 
l)uy the best stock and don't be satisfied with knowing it has good 
blood, but demand its registration, and that you be furnished its 
registration score to prove that the specimen you buy is up to the 
standard that its blood justifies, thus insuring you againsr getting 
the runt of the litter. 



40 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 



CHAPTER X. 



MARKETING. 



As it is the chief purpose of this bool^ to enable the reader to 
mal^e money raising rabbits, the question of a market is of prime 
importance. A great many men have succeeded in organizing 
a successful industry, and in solving the problems connected with 
production, who can not market successfully the product; and 
consequently they fail. Genius in production is of no value in the 
commercial world unless it is associated with marketing ability. 
Every industry that has had a successful career has had behind 
it a salesman of ability. Fully ten times more failures in business 
have been due to bar marketing facilities than to any other one 
cause. Many farmers are scarcely making a living because they 
are deficient in marketing ability. Of course, they know how to 
sell their main money crop of corn, cotton, wheat or tobacco; 
but they do not have the ability to turn the by-products of their 
farming into cash to the best advantage. No great manufactur- 
ing plant could keep out of the bankruptcy courts twelve months 
if its management paid attention only to the main prodxiots and 
let all by-products go to waste. 

Now what we mean by marketing ability is the ability to get 
every possible product of the industry into marketable form, find 
a market for it, and get the most money out of it. Your doing 
this means your success; your not doing it means your failure. 
Then the first thing to be considered is the problem of turning 
every possible product of the rabbit farm into marketaVjle form. 
There are four things that should be marketable from the rab- 
bitry. First — your finest young stock should be made to bring 
you a fancy price as future breeders. You may need them your 
self to enlarge your herd; then buy them yourself at their highest 
market value. And just here let it be said that no man can be 
a success in a large way without being a careful bookkeeper. So 
when you take one of your does and put her in your breeding 
hutch, place over to the side of sales a good round figure, then 
treat her like she had cost you a big sum of money. If some- 
thing goes wrong with with her, do not say, "Well, she did not 
cost me anything. I will trust luck for her to get along all right." 
Rut reason this way — that she has cost you a high price, and that 
>'ou can't afford to take a chance, and hence take all the pains 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 41 

and effort necessary to make her a great producer for you. 

Then, second — there will be your surplus bucks and culls. 
These should be sold In the meat market. If you have a family 
you can sell them to yourself for your own table and thereby 
serve on your table the best known meat. But be sure to keep 
books so you will know where you are. 

Third comes from the fur. Any one who kills a dozen or more 
rabbits during a year and does not market the fur will miss 
a very commercially valuable by-product. In dressing your rab- 
bits, hang them up by the hind feet or get someone to hold them 
for you; cut the skin around the hind legs just below the feet, 
split the skin down the inside of each leg till the splits meet un- 
der the root of the tail, then start the hide off all around and pull 
it off over the rabbit's head like pulling off a stocking by taking 
hold of the top and pulling it over the foot by turning it wrong 
side out, frequently using a sharp knife to insure as little of the 
fat and flesh clinging to the hide as possible. Then cut the side 
open by splitting down the belly and tack on the wall with the 
flesh side out to dry, putting it out of reach of dogs and cats. 
After they are thoroughly cured pack them tight in a box with 
moth lialls and ship to a reliable fur dealer. There are many 
who make a specialty of handling rabbit fur. If you do not know 
the address, write to some rabbit magazine or large breeder, en- 
closing stamped envelope and you can readily find a market. 

Few people know the immensity to which the rabbit fur in- 
dustry has grown. Millions are used for felt hats and some of 
the most attractive furs on the market are rabbit hides sold un- 
der other names. England alone in 1910 imported over 80 mil- 
lion rabbit furs. 

Another profitable side line is the manure from the rabbitry 
Instead of raking it out to fall around the hutches and accu- 
mulate filth, either catch it in something as you rake out thr 
hutch or sweep and take it up, throwing it into a large box or 
protected corner. If you have a garden sell it to yourself in the 
spring as the highest grade of fertilizer, or your neighbor will pay 
you well for the privilege of hauling it off. 

Creating a market for rabbits. — Your main interest, of course, 
will renter in the market for your rabbit. About 2 years ago 
in this country there was what is usually known as an abortive 
boom in the Belgian hare industry. A few men made big for- 
tunes selling breeding stock at fancy prices, and then the bottom 



42 SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BREEDING 

dropped out. There were two reasons for this. First, the adver- 
tising was not sufficiently extensive and scientific to create the 
demand, and rabbit meat was not appreciated at its true worth. 
We might also add that at that time the world's supply of meai 
was adequate for the demand. Now it is wonderfully scarce. 

The nutritive value of rabbit venison has been well established 
and doctors and sanitariums are recommending it very highly 
By scientific analysis it has been proven to be the most nutritive 
of all meats. Rabbit meat contains 83 per cent of net nutriment 
while beef yields only 55 per cent, mutton 65 per cent, pork 7^ 
per cent, and chicken 50 per cent. This information has been 
broadcast over the country and now any intelligent person is anx- 
ious to secure rabbit venison at corespondingiy high prices, com- 
parable with its nutritive value. If your community has not been 
educated to demand rabbit venison it is because there has not 
been a supply. Dress a few nice ones and carry them into your 
leading hotel or restaurant as samples, and soon all you have 
available for meat will be in demand. 

Your highest price should be gotten for your breeding stock 
and your main money revenue should come from the sale of 
your young blooded animals. This market you will have to cre- 
ate by advertising. If you are near a large city the leading Sun- 
day paper will be a fine medium for advertising your breeding 
stock; or certain poultry and farm journals, or the popular week- 
ly and monthly magazines. 

An advertising campaign, however, is vei^ expensive, r. nd ex- 
pense is necessary to get results. The greatest fortunes in 
America have been made by successful advertising campaigns, 
and also thousands of dollars have been appropriated to a-lvertis- 
ing that, for the lack of pulling power, utterly failed. It takes 
careful study to put into an advertisement that indefinable some- 
thing that causes it to get results. This takes careful study, prac- 
tice and expense. 

THE SURE ROAD TO SUCCESS. — Buy the best blood you can 
get from a reliable breeder — one whose backing is such that you 
are sure his rabbits are good — get registered stock if possible — 
registered by a reliable Association or Institution. Buy from a 
breeder who will guarantee to buy back your young ones at good 
prices. Now, you must not depend upon this market, but while 
you are making money selling back to this breeder, begin cau- 
tiously to create your own market. Begin advet^tising on a small 



SCIENTIFIC RABBIT BRFEDING 43 

scale, studying the results, changing your advertisement and ex- 
perimenting. Enlarge your campaign as results become satisfac- 
tory and soon you may have an independent business that may 
grow to stupendous proportions. 

Sell your breeding stock from 6 to 8 months old. In shipping, 
take an ordinary orange crate or box about that size. Nail a tin 
cup or can in it for water, place plenty of good clean hay in it for 
I leading and feed, and finally, nail slats across the top. Have 
separate compartments if more than one is shipped. Two four- 
months-old does which have been raised together may be shipped 
in the same compartment. Avoid shipping" in either extreme 
hot or cold weather. If you have carrots to put in for food water 
is then not necessary. 



HlOl 75 567 









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